Author's Note: We apologize for any strangeness there may be with spacing, formatting, etc. Both Microsoft Word & FrontPage were not cooperating this morning. Also, if there are things that should be in italics (i.e. thoughts, spirits speaking, etc.) this is again, a by product of Word's temper tantrum that it seems to be throwing on all computers in our house.
Chapter 21
"The Fall of a Prince"
Seline could feel her blood pounding in her ears again. It was returning.the bright green Egyptian Eye was reappearing on her forehead as her screens flashed over and over images of the Tomb raider's second triumph that evening. Her breathing became heavy and her nails tore into the plush armrests of her chair. The pounding.she had to stop it.or it would drive her mad. She needed Chalie.she couldn't handle it on her own any longer. It had been growing worse ever since Jetsu had left the realm of the mortals. She stood, staggering towards the door, the Egyptian Eye searing her forehead, her head throbbing with pain.
* * *
Barak's Duel Disk powered down silently, and he slipped the gaming machine off of his sweaty arm, "I have a feeling I won't be needing this anymore," He told Chalie, who had ignored the fall of his servants and moved to position himself between the stairs to the top level of the museum. The Millennium Ring began to glow a bright golden color, beginning to renew the strength Barak had lost during his two duels. The former thief thrust his newly-acquired Staff (that had been sitting at his feet since the start of the duel) towards Chalie, "You realize you cannot possibly hope to match me. Step aside now and I may let you retain your mind."
"You realize that I cannot possibly let you by so easily," Chalie said, "An audience with my mistress is a difficult privilege to acquire."
"Then have a pleasant stay in the Shadow Realm. I'm sure there are several minds you've trapped there to keep you company!" The Staff's tip exploded with energy, a tremendous beam of golden light directed itself towards the servant of Seline Chrysogonus.
Chalie smirked and raised both hands, catching the blast. In an instant, the golden energy vanished into his palms. The heavy bandages on his right hand fell off in singed scraps and underneath, his hand was completely uninjured. "Thank you," he said, rubbing his hands together, "That felt wonderful. I hope now you begin to comprehend my powers."
Barak's eyes widened, bewildered, "What are you?" He asked in amazement.
It was not Chalie who answered him, but a familiar female voice. "An Ernten." They both glanced up the stairs to see Seline descending them, the green Eye burning brightly on her forehead, a small smile on her lips. "One of the last of his kind, and virtually indestructible in battles of magic. You would've done well to surrender yourself at Stage One, street rat."
Barak folded his arms, dropping the Millennium Staff at his feet, "It would appear an audience is not so difficult to gain, Ernten." He began to chuckle slightly, eying the slight woman, "So this is the mighty Seline Chrysogonus. This is what has that idiot Shadi and my fool of a brother so worried??" The man threw back his head and roared with laughter, the sound filling the large room and echoing around on the walls.
Seline drew herself up right in front of Barak, the top of her head barely reaching his shoulders. Her smile never faltered, "I fail to see the humor in any of this."
He stopped laughing, a wide smirk upon his face, and looked down at the woman, "Than you obviously have no sense of humor. What's laughable is thinking that you are any threat to someone of my magical abilities," He moved one hand to push her away, "Once I finish off your servant, I'll deal with you."
In a blur of movement, the heel of her palm made contact with his face and he was flung backwards, skidding across the marble floor. "You will find I am quite the threat, rat."
Barak sat up quickly, rubbing his chin, "Little nuisance." He stood slowly, then placed his hands around the outline of the Millennium Ring, fingers spread wide. A blast of magical energies was released, reflecting in his brown eyes and making them appear golden themselves.
As the blast approached her, she batted it away as if it were nothing. Then she waved a hand over the Millennium Item at her feet and it shot up into her grasp. "Pathetic fool," she spat, pointing the Staff at him, "You should have stayed down. I will enjoy causing you pain." The discharge from the Millennium Staff was a sickly green color, but came forth nearly twice as large as the one Barak had released.
The Spirit of the Ring leapt away, not willing to meet the blast head-on. Instead of flying past him and colliding with the stairs down to Level One, the energy changed direction in mid-air and smashed into the yami spirit. The force of the resulting explosion slammed Barak through several glass display cases before meeting with the solid tile wall. He landed hard on the ground, flat on his back. Barak gasped in pain, unable to believe the intensity of the energy beam.
"Do you realize now how far in over your head you are?" she asked, her high heels clicking softly on the floor as she crossed the room towards him, green energy still swirling at the tip of the Staff.
From his spot near the stairs, Chalie raised a worried eyebrow. Thousands of dollars worth of archeological finds had just been destroyed, but Seline simply tread over her possessions as if they were worthless children's toys. Something was wrong here. Perhaps not on the surface, but he had better make sure the situation didn't get too out of hand.
Barak stood, too angry to care about the tiny shards of glass that made his arms wet with several separate trickles of blood. He fired another blast from the Millennium Ring, not waiting to see if it would make contact. The spirit of the Ring ran after it, intent on getting one good shot at her head while she attempted to stop his first attack.
She lifted the Staff to block his first blast and than raised her free arm to catch his fist as it came at her head. Her expression cold, she twisted his arm in a way it should not go and then rammed her knee into his stomach.
Barak cried out in pain as his right arm went limp at his side and went down hard, clutching his stomach. How was he being beaten so easily? Was there really that much more to this woman than could be seen on the surface? He could almost hear the mocking laughter of his half-brother, the so-called mightiest of the Pharaohs, within the lonely chambers of his mind.
"It ends now, filth," Seline said, raising his chin up with the tip of the Staff, "Time for you to die."
His eyes widened, fear etched across his face. Barak released an attack from his Millennium Ring at point blank range, kicking up dust all around the two. When the smoke cleared, he realized with disgust that the cold touch of the Millennium Staff had not removed itself. Seline smiled down at him, not affected in the least.
"Mistress," came Chalie's voice as he calmly approached the pair, "Need I remind you that this was not our planned fate for the thief." He placed a hand on her arm and the Egyptian Eye flickered on her forehead until it was gone completely. "We had uses for him yet, did we not?"
She shook herself as if out of a dream and then nodded. "Yes, Chalie, I'm sorry.you're right." She turned back to Barak, "Looks like you've been spared for now, rat," she told him, "Enjoy your stay in the Shadow Realm." A quick shock wave shot out from the Staff and engulfed him.
The Prince of Egypt crumpled to the ground, his mind now dimensions away. High above the three, sitting on a window sill, a small, golden cat turned and leapt from its spot, beginning its long trek back to its master.
* * *
Diana hung her head and waved a hand through the orb floating in front of her, causing it to dissipate into thin wisps of smoke and vanish. After a few moments of silence, she turned tear-filled eyes towards the sleeping spirit of Bakura. 'And so the Prince falls.and what will become of his host now.?' she thought sadly, 'How long will his spirit be able to sustain itself without his body.?' She stood slowly, 'The Pharaoh should know of this.'
Her hand was barely on the handle of the door when there was a knock upon it. She opened it and came face to face with a young man she did not recognize. He was flanked by the spirits of the King and Queen of Egypt. Yami looked relieved, "We were not sure anyone would be up at this hour," he told her, "Diana -was it?"
"Yes, my Pharaoh, it was," she nodded, gesturing them into the apartment, "And may I inquire as to who this is?"
Dedi answered her, "This is Shem, our bodyguard back in the days we were living. He comes to us having escaped the servitude of the Seline woman. He left Barak in the museum a short while ago - has he returned here?"
"No," Diana shook her head, "And he will not return of his own accord."
Shem cursed in Egyptian, "She's taken him."
"She has," Diana nodded, "I watched it.and I do not wish to recount the details as of yet. At the moment, my main fear is for Bakura's spirit."
"Should we awaken him?" Yami wondered aloud, gazing at the sleeping spirit.
"I am afraid to." Diana admitted, "I would not know how to comfort him."
"Why is he not with Barak?" Shem asked, befuddled.
"Barak left him behind when he went out tonight," Diana said, "As I'm sure you have done with your host, when you feel the situation may be too dangerous."
"The very reason Yugi is not here. I did not wish to disturb him so late." Yami said, nodding in agreement with Diana.
Shem took a moment to respond to Diana, not meeting her eye, "My host has no knowledge of my existence. I do not leave him, rather 'take over' control of the body when I feel the situation calls for such."
"Which, as of late, has probably been quite often I expect?" the Grecian woman guessed, eyebrows raised.
"Actually, I have only just recently returned to this body. I may only hope that Todd will return when I relinquish control," coming upon this embarrassing subject, Shem looked at his feet, "I was an unwilling servant of Seline ever since Jetsu's destruction."
Yami put a hand on his old friend's arm, "I'm especially glad that your memories returned before your host was placed in danger. But I feel that the time is growing ever closer that you should reveal yourself to him. He is surely troubled, as our hosts have been in the past, at his unpredictable lapses in memory."
Shem merely nodded, "I will.but not tonight. It is too late, and this body is wearing down. You look as if you could use some rest as well, my Pharaoh. Perhaps sleep would be a better use of your nightly hours this evening." The bodyguard smirked at his master, wondering how well this statement would go over with the Queen.
Dedi frowned, "We'll leave you then. Diana, it won't be a problem to keep him here for a little while, will it? We need him to keep a low profile for the moment."
Diana shrugged, "I do not think one extra guest will make much difference. I will not turn him away, but it should be discussed with Bakura in the morning."
"Indeed," Yami agreed, "We'll be back tomorrow. I'll have Yugi call to let you know the exact time." He kissed Dedi softly on the cheek and told her, "That goes for you as well, my love."
"Very well," she said resignedly. With a final nod to Shem and Diana, both spirits vanished.
"I'm sorry," Diana said after they had gone, "But sleeping space is limited here.the floor is really all that's left."
"Getting to sleep at night instead of guarding the Pharaoh is still a well-appreciated new privilege. The location matters not to me."
"Yes, I see." she said, kneeling down as the Millennium Statue appeared through the front door and climbed up onto her shoulder, "Well.make yourself comfortable. Morning will be here much too soon." She made her way back over to her own sleeping bag on one of the couches and settled into it. The golden cat curled itself up on her pillow next to her head.
Shem sighed, looking out at the horizon, where a faint change in the clouds' coloration began to betray the early signs of a morning to come, "Indeed."